Manager – Community Relations & Employee Engagement

Oxy is an international energy company with assets primarily in the United States, the Middle East and North Africa. We are one of the largest oil and gas producers in the U.S., including a leading producer in the Permian and DJ basins, and offshore Gulf of Mexico. Our midstream and marketing segment provides flow assurance and maximizes the value of our oil and gas. Our chemical subsidiary OxyChem manufactures the building blocks for life-enhancing products. Our Oxy Low Carbon Ventures subsidiary is advancing leading-edge technologies and business solutions that economically grow our business while reducing emissions. We are committed to using our global leadership in carbon management to advance a lower-carbon world. Visit oxy.com for more information.

Occidental strives to attract and retain talented employees by investing in their professional development and providing rewarding opportunities for personal growth. Our goal is to meet the highest employer standards by ensuring the health and safety of our employees, protecting the environment and positively impacting our communities where we do business.

The Community Relations & Employee Engagement Manager is responsible for managing Oxy’s community relations, employee engagement programs, and charitable investment portfolio in the Greater Houston area in support of local communities and the company’s business objectives. This position will develop and maintain the company’s charitable partnerships and community engagement opportunities with local community leaders and organizations to enhance our reputation and engage employees, as well as work on other projects as assigned by the Director, Community Relations & Employee Engagement. The successful candidate will be based in Houston, Texas, and will be required to represent Oxy at area community events, as well as travel to various locations. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced community relations leader seeking a challenging, fast-paced environment at one of the most highly regarded companies in the oil and gas industry.

Essential Job Duties:

• Manage Oxy’s community relations, employee engagement programs, and charitable investment portfolio in the Greater Houston area to identify opportunities to increase social impact while creating sustainable solutions that address critical needs within our communities.
• Lead volunteerism and activities for the Houston-area employees, driving engagement and reinforcing Oxy’s approach to corporate philanthropy.
• Partner, collaborate and engage with the company’s executives, senior leadership, and communication teams to ensure internal alignment of Oxy’s community relations strategy, vision, and strategic objectives.
• Partner with external and internal stakeholders to ensure outstanding implementation of the company’s charitable giving strategy and our community relations and employee engagement programs – including communications to employees and senior leaders, in-person meetings with community partners, preparing proposals and making recommendations to senior management, and executing contracts and associated employee benefits.
• Assist in identifying potential charitable and social investments, and leverage Oxy’s existing community partnerships to optimize the social benefit for our community stakeholders and support the company’s business objectives.
• Establish metrics, measuring both impact and value on community investments, involvement, and programs, inclusive of conducting impact and return assessments/analysis and reporting for the community relations program; recommend ways the company can react to opportunities identified through that evaluation process by measuring the value of investment and assess how the strategy affects business objectives.
• Manage the Houston-area community relations budget, including charitable and outreach activities. Prepare detailed annual budget and re-evaluate the portfolio utilizing quantitative and qualitative impact metrics, to provide recommendations for the following year.
• Maintain an understanding of the company’s business operations, goals, and objectives in order to set priorities for community investments and activities.
• Demonstrate subject matter expertise in broad issues aligned to Oxy's priorities (e.g., impact investing, philanthropy, community development, employee engagement and advocacy, sustainability, etc.).
• Develop innovative concepts to enhance the community relations programs to differentiate Oxy among our competitors and stakeholders.
• Articulate the company’s mission, strategy and landscape of company philanthropy and community development to employees in an engaging and compelling way, connecting the dots for employees, and raising awareness of community outreach, advocacy efforts and volunteerism.
• Identify and write community event and employee engagement stories for internal distribution on the company intranet site. 
• Unify corporate efforts domestically and create a shared passion among leadership and employees for community relations, including employee engagement in community projects and advocacy for the company’s role in the community.
• Collaborate successfully across Oxy’s business units and operations, including Corporate Affairs, Communications, Marketing, External Affairs, Government Relations, Legal/Compliance, and Human Resources teams.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with community leaders, philanthropic organizations and third-party constituencies and represent Oxy at company-sponsored events.
• Supervise and manage career development of direct reports on the Houston Community Relations & Employee Engagement team.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Corporate Responsibility/Sustainability, Communications, Marketing, or related field is preferred.
• 7+ years in community relations/affairs, employee advocacy, Human Resources, corporate philanthropy, or equivalent experience with progressively increasing responsibilities is preferred.
• 4+ years of experience directly managing direct reports and project teams is preferred.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in program management, partnership development and relationship management, and/or grant-making experience is preferred.
• Strong project management experience with ability to simultaneously facilitate and track multiple projects and activities to completion.
• Experience leading and/or executing volunteer events, increasing employee engagement and advocacy preferred.
• Experience planning large-scale employee events. 
• Experience building and maintaining relationships with community organizations, including advocate groups, nonprofit groups, and community agencies.
• Demonstrated planning, change management and strategic thinking capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to think critically and strategically about program design and implementation.
• Equally comfortable with strategic thinking and tactical execution.
• Excellent communication skills (written, verbal and presentation) and strong writing abilities required.
• Experience developing narrative and storytelling around community partners and impact.
• Must be organized, detail-oriented, analytical and a resourceful problem solver with the ability to formulate and execute plans efficiently and effectively with minimal supervision.
• Client-centered focus and ability to work in a fast-paced environment to manage priorities and meet tight deadlines.
• Demonstrate a high-level of creativity, innovation, as well as flexibility and collaboration with an ability to work in a team-oriented environment; demonstrate a high-degree of initiative; results-oriented.
• Experience consulting and collaborating with senior leaders in various functional areas and working collaboratively to achieve shared outcomes.
• Exhibit strong interpersonal skills and must have the ability to comfortably interact with executives, senior leaders, and external partners.
• Ability to adapt and prioritize effectively around changing deadlines, and flexibility to support other business functions when required.
• Experience preparing presentations and presenting to senior management and community leaders.
• Excellent networking skills with the ability to positively represent the company at all times.
• Effective judgment, tact, diplomacy, and discretion required in all matters.
• Proven track record of enhancing a Fortune 500 company brand through community programs preferred.
• Advanced level skills in MS Office.
• Availability to work evenings and weekend events is required.
• Ability to travel up to 20%.

Recruitment Fraud

It has come to our attention various individuals and/or organizations are contacting people falsely pretending to recruit on behalf of Oxy. Please be aware that these recruiting scams and communications do not originate nor are they associated with our recruitment process. All Oxy job postings and offers will require a completed application through our company website.

Oxy does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruiting process. We will never:

•  Ask you to pay for applications, interviews, meetings, processing, training or for any other fees

•  Use recruiting or placement agencies that charge candidates an advance fee of any kind or

•  Request personal information such as passport and bank account details at an early stage of our recruitment process.

We recommend against responding to unsolicited business propositions or offers from people you don't know. Do not disclose your personal or financial details. If you believe you have been the victim of a recruiting scam, please contact your local police department.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status or any other basis as protected by federal, state, or local law.